I believe I said that

I know this news is weeks old now, but I have photos online, so whatever. Here I go.

I already mentioned that I was in South Philly (specifically, the sports complex) after the World Series win. Well, here is what my crew looked like:



And here is what the scene outside the ballpark was like:



If you have fifty-two seconds to spare, then I'll tell you the story of my life I urge you to watch that video, because it is awesome. Especially Michelle and Flapjack.

Then that Friday I went to the Championship Parade. We parked near the stadiums, and walked north along Broad, to ostensibly meet up with Kevin, Cass et al, who were ostensibly moving southward, though every time we managed to get through to them, they were at the same freaking intersection.

We stopped heading north when it was clear the parade was on its way, and walked back to a spot where we could go right against the rope "barrier;" nay, right into the street. It was awesome. The phanatic led it off, followed closely by Pat "the Bait" Burrell. Then the trucks filled with our heroes. Here are the people I saw: Charlie Manuel (whom I did not recognize at first, because he was wearing a suit,) Mayor Nutter (holding aloft the trophy), Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Harry Kalas, Brett Meyers, Jimmy Rollins, Jason Werth . . . probably some others, I don't remember anymore. But they were right there! Excited as we were! A dude near us in the crowd had a sign that said DAVID WRIGHT IS GOLFING RIGHT NOW - THIS IS BETTER and they all pointed at it and took pictures.

The crowd was great. EVERYBODY was wearing Phillies gear. Like honestly probably 85% of the people there. Another 10% were wearing red. It was wonderful. Not as manic as right after the game, but still great. After the parade passed we walked up the middle of Broad to meet up with the rest of everybody. When we got there Neil was like, "did you see the Runway dude?" and I said "whuzzah?" and he pointed out Jay McCarroll! Season one winner of Project Runway! I knew that he lived in Philly now, he's teaching at one or two of the art schools in the city. So Neil and I went over to him and met him and got a picture. I looked remarkably boring and had NOTHING of interest to say, but he was very nice and friendly (and drunk,) and they thought Neil and his tattoos were cool. So we chatted a bit and then left.

Then we all meandered south towards the stadiums, and the car. There was a long period of time where we lost Flapjack and Chris, because they broke off from the group to pee; instead of walking right back, they tried to cut us off. But everyone was polite and waiting for them, whilst they were wandering farther down Broad. Also everyone was drunk on 40s. This was further complicated by the fact that the cell phone lines were jammed, and it was nigh impossible for anybody to get through to anybody else. But I found them eventually, after finagling an EXTREMELY inebriated Kevin back to the car (I offered to hold his hand to keep him from veering into traffic, but he refused.) Oh man and when I was waiting for Flaps and Chris to come back, I climbed up on the outside of a little landscaped area of some brownstone, so that they could see me better. And the homeowner came home and yelled at me for being "on his property!" On Philly day! What a toolbox. He's like, "you think you can just stand on other people's property?" and I said "you can if they're friendly!" but not too loud because I was sober and wimpy. But I wasn't messing anything up! He wanted me off on principle. He probably voted for McCain, that douchebag.

Anyway, I drove us all home and we got hoagies and no kids came to trick-or-treat at my house. That was my Halloween proper. It was worth the day off.

The next day was the Halloween Party. Chris and I were Captain Murphy and White Debbie from Sealab 2021, respectively, because we are lazy. It was our third [adult swim]-themed couple costume in a row! Phew.



This is me, and Kevin as a prisoner. We are in the Orange Coveralls Club (OCC). I don't think anyone took any pictures of Chris and me together, which is sort of funny. You should check out the rest of the pictures by clicking above: Michelle had the best costume by far. It had sound effects, and her boobs were flashing red lights. Did YOUR costume have that? No, didn't think so.

I took a half day today (the second half; I'm at work now) because I needed to drop Edward off this morning; he's getting his tiny kitten balls removed. I brought him in to the shelter. This is the third time he's been in our cat carrier -- the first two times were trips to the vet's, and he hated it. He is TERRIFIED in that thing. He goes into a corner and tries to make himself as small as possible. He sticks his head in the corner, thinking, presumably, that if he can't see us, we can't see him and do something scary to him. It is heartbreaking. Today I think he may even have been shaking. This is the kitten who routinely chases, hunts, and pounces upon a feline behemouth four times his size. I hate it. (His terror, I mean, I hate his terror, not the hunting, the hunting and chasing and pouncing and wrestling is highly entertaining.) Today I had to sign a paper that said it was okay if something terrible happened to him while he was in surgery, and then I patted the carrier and walked out, and though I had been really quite blase' about the whole deal up until this morning ("enjoy licking those puppies while you still can, buddy, they're coming off tomorrow!"), on my walk back to the car I started crying. My poor little baby is SO SCARED! It's not the neutering itself that made me upset, it's how scared he's going to be before and after. I'm okay now, of course, but I can't wait to pick him up this evening and be safe and familiar to him.

After I dropped Edward off, I went home to take a shower and get dressed properly. Henry was complaining, and though it was probably because I put out only adult-cat food (he prefers the kitten food, which will only make him FATTER, and I'm pretty sure Edward eats mostly the adult-cat food, because cats were invented to DRIVE PEOPLE CRAZY,) I pretended it was because he missed his little brother.

Then I went to Deptford, and you guys, I'm pretty sure that all my Christmas shopping is done. This has never ever happened to me before. I'm waiting on a few things in the mail, but not much. I have a few things to put together still, and I wish I had gotten my brother more, but still -- no more shopping! This is truly amazing.

I will probably get a Christmas tree this weekend.

Peter Boyle died. The various obituaries first reference Everybody Loves Raymond and Young Frankenstein, but to me he'll always be the guy from a funny and heartbreaking episode of The X Files. (I think it was funny. Wasn't that the one with pies?) (Everyone did their best work on that show. Like Luke Wilson. And Alex Trebek. And Jesse Ventura, and Charles Nelson Reilly.) I've always thought of Peter Boyle very fondly because of that episode.

Okay you guys, so I'm watching the next-to-last episode of season three of Gilmore Girls (I only started watching it regularly halfway through season five, so I've been catching up from the beginning via Netflix) and during the opening credits I see MICHAEL MARONNA! Freaking Michael Maronna! Actually, he was listed as Michael C. Maronna, which is charming -- Michael Maronna! If you don't know who Michael Maronna is (and I don't see how that's even possible), he is Pete! Hel-LO! (P.S. Wow is he young in that picture! I forgot how young Pete and Pete were at the beginning of that show. Also here is Michael Stipe selling him a fudgesicle.) Oh man I was so in love with Michael Maronna in high school. I found out that he lived in Queens, and everytime we went to visit my grandparents I would keep my eyes peeled. Just in case.

Anyway, he only ended up with a few lines in the episode, BUT he was an employee of Jess's dad in California, and I know that the original plan was to have Jess living with his dad in California be a spinoff series, with whatsherface as his dad's girlfriend. Sherilynn Finn, a la Twin Peaks (I've never seen it, no spoilers!) who currently plays Luke's baby momma on Gilmore Girls, wait where was I, oh yeah! So maybe Michael Maronna almost had a steady gig! As the quirky hot dog stand employee! But the series never got picked up, sorry Michael Maronna.

Also, in looking for a picture of Pete, I was reminded that Michael Maronna was in Slackers. I am quasi-interested in renting that just to see him. Did anyone see that movie? Was it terrible?

This morning I had to warm up my car ahead of time. What a shame. I've been complaining about the heat for ages now, though, so I guess I can't say anything.

But DUDE this morning? Because of all the 8 Mile commercials I saw yesterday? I had a dream that I was at this graduation party for someone and it was at this big warehousey thing and not very cool, and then Eminem shows up with Christina Agulera (sp? oh yeah I don't CARE), whom I think maybe he was banging, that slut, and some other dude who was maybe famous. And I was all OMG [somebody let me know when they suspect that I'm using that term sincerely, because I think I might be getting there] because everyone else at the party was lame and I didn't want them to scare him away. So I was working it and trying to seem cool and funny and clever and I was cursing myself for not wearing clothes that made me look hot, but man, by the end of the night/dream I think I almost had him, folks.